The Reflection of the Navarrese Problem in Coinage – Part 1

It should already be known that the King of Aragon, called Ferdinand the Catholic, attacked and conquered the Kingdom of Navarre in July 1512. The attack, however, was carried out with troops from the Kingdom of Castile, who we should call Ferdinand the usurper, since he was also the viceroy of his daughter, Queen Juana, in the Kingdom of Castile.

Initially, Ferdinand forged a papal bull to justify his attack. Pope Julius II was also part of the same game, and with the bull “Exigit Contumacium” published on February 18, 1513, he deprived the king of Navarre of his titles and possessions of his territories. As can be seen, the pope tried to legalize Ferdinand's conquest. A couple of years later, in July 1515, and contrary to initial appearances, Ferdinand united the kingdom of Navarre with the kingdom of Castile (although at first everyone thought he would unite it with the kingdom of Aragon), swearing to respect its charters and customs.

According to a custom that has survived to this day, authorities tried to justify the legitimacy of their power rights and spread them to the four winds through the minting of money. Money was a public and advertising messenger that passed from hand to hand.

From the very beginning, Ferdinand tried to assert his weak legitimacy, and coinage was part of this effort. The following coins minted during his reign undoubtedly present Ferdinand as king of Navarre and Aragon.

Double gold ducat minted in the name of King Fernando I (1512-1516) – 6.87gr

Front: FERNANDVS.DGRNAVARRE.ET.AR

Back: SIT:NOMEN:DOMIN:BENEDITVM:ES

Silver real coin minted in the name of King Fernando I (1512-1516) – approximately 3.34 gr.

Front: FERNANDVS.DGRNAVARRE.ET

Back: SIT:NOMEN:DOMINI:BENEDICTVM

Two F letters appear between the two crowns.

The kings of Navarre, John and Catherine, after being exiled to their sovereign territories in Bearn, tried to assert their legal rights and promoted two attempts at recovery, one in 1512 and the other in 1516.

Both attempts ended in failure, and a third attempt in 1521, promoted by Henry II, the son of the legitimate kings of Navarre, and Francis I, the French king, also ended in failure.

By this time, the forger Ferdinand had died at the beginning of 1516 and the new king of Spain was Charles I. Like his grandfather Ferdinand, who had overridden the rights of his mother Joan, he set his sights on maintaining and expanding all the territorial inheritances of his ancestors, while also taking as his banner the firm defense of Catholicism.

Regarding coinage, he fell into a certain apparent contradiction. On the one hand, he wanted to display the coats of arms of the kingdoms inherited from the Trastamara family in the numerous coins minted in the Kingdom of Castile.

Gold shield carved in Seville in the name of Queen Joanna I (1504-1555) and King Charles I (1516-1556) of Spain – 3.39gr

Front: IOANNA.ET.CAROLVS

Reverse: HISPANIARVM.REGES.SICILIAE

But at the same time, he did not dare to mint coins in his own name on the Navarrese coins minted at the Pamplona mint. Instead of his own name, he used the name of his grandfather and placed the letter K as his characteristic on both the front and back (in some cases, not even that).

Silver real minted in Pamplona during the reign of Charles IV (1516-1556) King of Navarre and in the name of King Fernando – 2.87gr

Obverse: FERDINANDVS:DEI:GRA:REX:NAVA

The crowned K i s k i s on the sides of the coat of arms of Navarre represent the reign of King Charles.

Back: SIT:NOMEN:DOMINI:BENEDICTVM

Two K izki appear between the two crowns.

In fact, in his last will and testament written in 1554, Charles IV (Charles I of Spain and Charles V of Germany) reflects on his problems of conscience and tells his son and heir Philip II:

"en lo que toca al reyno de Navarre, haya de mirar y con diligencia examine y averiguar sincere, si de justice y razón I will be obliged to restore said kingdom or in another way satisfy or compensate some person. And what was found, determined and declared by justice, is fulfilled by effect, so that my soul and conscience are discharged."

Henry II was a contemporary of Charles V of Germany. He was the legitimate king of Navarre. By 1530, Charles's army had been forced to abandon its last remaining positions in Lower Navarre. Henry II spent the following decades strengthening the renewed Navarrese institutions, with Donapaleu as its capital. Together with the lordship of Bearn, he formed a small sovereign kingdom located between the Spanish and French kingdoms and spent his life defending the legitimacy of his Navarrese kingship.

His coins are clear evidence of this kingdom, formed by Navarre and Bearn. The mottos on his coins very well summarize the axis of the Labrit royal family united by Henry:

• OBSERVATORY: Henry, by the grace of God, King of Navarre and Lord of Bearn. HENRICVS DEI GRATIA REX NAVARRAE DOMINVS BEARNI
• BACK: I am who I am by the grace of God. GRATIA DEI SVM ID QVOD SVM

Coins minted by King Henry II of Navarre (1517-1555) at the Bearn mint your servant; From 1541 onwards – 2.29gr – Coat of arms of Navarre on the left and the Cows of Bearn on the right

Obverse: HENRICVS* D* G* REX* NAVAR* D* B

Back: GRATIA* DEI* SVM* ID* QVOD* SVM

The daughter of Henry II of Burgundy, Joan of Labrit, married Antoine, Duke of Vendôme, of the Bourbon family. Joan, in the new mint of Pau, the mill built by his father, were a reflection of his sovereignty and family roots beautiful coins worked on them.

The mottos of these coins conveyed the same messages established by the father, but also the coats of arms inscribed on the back offer us a summary of the family's genealogical traces and sovereign and feudal territories. The coats of arms of Evreux or Trastamara are significant, as they are a reminder of the family territories taken from them by the kings of France, Castile-Leon and Aragon.

Silver coin minted by Queen Joanna III of Navarre (1555-1572) in 1566 at the Pau mill – 9.41gr 29.4mm

Front: IOANNA.DEI.G.REG.NAVAR.DB Mint P (Pau)

Back: GRATIA.DEI.SVM.ID.QVOD.SVM 1566

In the south, at the same time, the so-called “Pragmática de la Nueva Estampa” published by Philip II of Spain in 1566, shows us the true family roots of the royal house of Austria. According to this pragmatic, on the coins minted during the reigns of Philip II, the coats of arms of the territories and titles of his ancestors were re-arranged. Likewise, the kingdoms of Navarre and Naples, obtained through conquest, and the Duchy of Milan were left aside. This image clearly shows us.

8 reales coin of Philip II (1556-1598) King of Spain, minted in 1597 at the Segovia mint – 27.55gr

Obverse: PHILIPPVS.DGOMNIVM.

Reverse: HISPAN.REGNORVM.REX. 1597

Translation: Philip, by the grace of God, king of all the kingdoms of Spain. Year 1597

Here too, it is significant that Philip tries to present a general picture of his genealogical origins. He therefore uses the coats of arms of territories that were no longer under his rule, such as Austria and Tyrol, which Charles V gave to his brother Ferdinand (Philip's uncle), or the Duchy of Burgundy, which had long been integrated into the Kingdom of France. Also significant is the display of the coat of arms of the King of Portugal, which he received in 1580 through the rights of his wife.

As we can see, the different royal families were the owners of the territories under their rule and used private law when discussing disputes over the ownership of the territories. Concepts such as people or nation will appear after the French Revolution and it is in this sense that the words of King Charles presented earlier should be understood. If compensation was to be granted as a result of the conquest of the Kingdom of Navarre, these would belong to the Labritans, since the people of Navarre did not have the entity that we consider today at that time.

After the new family coat of arms was established on the silver and gold coins used throughout the Spanish kingdom and territories (similar to today's Euro banknotes), what did he decide about the small coins minted in the Kingdom of Navarre (similar to today's small Euro coins)?

Finally, he decided to put his name on the small billons minted in the local mint of Pamplona, next to the title of king of Navarre. In theory, these small Navarrese billons were for internal use only. No traces of silver or gold coins minted in his name in Navarre itself have been found to this day, but some authors believe that he still minted some silver reales in the name of his great-grandfather Fernando. This is a pure hypothesis, however, and we have neither documentary nor empirical evidence.

Coin of 4 cornados, probably minted in Pamplona during the reign of Philip IV (1556-1598), King of Navarre (Philip II of Spain). Undated – 4.18gr – Billon.

Obverse: PHILIPVS.DGRNAV.

Back: INSIGNIA.REGNI.N.

In fact, the study carried out by the historian Iñigo Bolinaga indicates that Philip's last will renewed the order to examine the legitimacy of the possession of Navarre. It is worth remembering that King Charles attempted to marry his son Philip II to Queen Joanna of Labritja in order to settle the dispute over the possession of Navarre once and for all.

Meanwhile, in the North, history was about to take a complete turn. The son of Joan of Labrit, Henry III of the House of Bourbon, King of Navarre, became King of France in 1589 (under the name of Henry IV of France). Henry III reopened the Donapaleu mint in 1579 and the coins minted there until 1589 show the same aspirations and concerns of his ancestors. The proclamation and announcement of a small kingdom located between the giant kingdoms of France and Spain. In the Treaty of Vervins (1598), signed between Henry and Philip II of Spain, the two kings reached many agreements, but Henry refused to legitimize the conquest and occupation carried out by King Fernando in the south and offered citizenship of his Navarrese kingdom to all the inhabitants of the time.

Silver franc minted by Henry III (1572-1610) King of Navarre in 1582 at the Donapaleu mint – 13.69gr 34mm – Collection from Monaco

Obverse: HENRICVS.II.DGREX.NAVARRE (Henry used the II ordinal corresponding to the lordship of Bearn on these coins instead of the one corresponding to the kingdom of Navarre)

Back: GRATIA.DEI.SVM.ID.Q.SVM.1582

Iñigo Bolinaga states that the study of the property of Navarre requested in Philip II's last will and testament was carried out in November 1598, barely two months after his death. The final assessment was made by a committee made up of twelve high-ranking officials from the Spanish royal family. It seems that the secretary from Gipuzkoa, Juan de Idiaquez, was among the members of this committee.

The commission, as could be expected, gathered arguments in favor of the conquest and possession of Upper Navarre and discharged the conscience of Philip III of Spain (Philip V of Navarre). From now on, the successors of the Austrian kings, Philip III and Philip IV in particular, would try to assert the legitimacy of their Navarrese kingship in the rare silver and gold coins minted at the Pamplona mint. It is significant, once again, that these rare silver and gold coins were minted at a time of tension against the Bourbon kings of France and Lower Navarre.

However, in the coins minted in other Spanish royal mints, the model of the “Pragmatica de la Nueva Estampa” established during the reign of Philip II remained in force and there is no trace of the coat of arms of Navarre.

Silver two-real coin minted by King Philip V of Navarre (1598-1621) in 1612 at the Pamplona mint – 6.84gr

Obverse: PHILIPVS.DGREX.

Back: CAST.ET.NAVAR.1612

These silver coins of Philip V were minted in 1611 and 1612, the years following the assassination of King Henry of France and Navarre (1610). Philip is proclaimed king of Castile and Navarre, sparking protests from the courts.

Silver quarter escudo minted by King Louis II of Navarre (1610-1643) in 1612 at the Donapaleu mint – 9.50gr

Front: LVDOVICVS.XIII.DGFRANC.ET.NAVAR.RX

Back: GRATIA.DEI.SVM.ID.Q.SVM.1612

Louis II of Navarre and Louis XIII of France continued to mint silver and copper coins at the Donapaleu mint, both before and after the unification of the Kingdom of Lower Navarre with the French monarchy (1620).

Gold 8-coin coin minted by King Philip VI of Navarre (1621-1665) in 1652 at the Pamplona mint – 26.95gr

Front: PHILIPPVS.VI.DG

Back: NAVARRE.REX.1652

Philip VI of Navarre (Philip IV of Spain) was at war with Louis XIV of France, or rather Louis III of Navarre (in fact, already during the reign of Louis II, France had been embroiled in the Thirty Years' War since 1635). After the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648, Philip hoped to gain an advantage in the ongoing conflict between the two neighboring kingdoms. In those years, the situation of Louis III became critical due to the rebellion called the Fronde, initiated by the parliament in 1648 and later supported by the nobility. At the same time, the magnificent gold and silver coins that Philip had minted in Pamplona sought to renew a certain challenge to Navarre.

However, Louis III managed to overcome the difficult situation and, after equipping the Donapaleu mint with new flywheel presses, continued to produce beautiful coins that clearly demonstrated his legitimacy:

Silver Shield of King Louis III of Navarre (1643-1715) minted in 1652 at the Donapaleu mint – 27.12 gr

Obverse: LVD.XIIII.DGFR.ET.NA.REX V (V left Jean Verdoye mintmaster)

Back: SIT.NOMEN.DOMINI.BENEDICTVM.1652

Finally, the Peace Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) made clear the supremacy of the French monarchy and from that year onwards, no more silver or gold coins were minted at the Pamplona mint; the only coins minted were small copper coins.

This is again significant, as silver and gold coins were widely distributed outside the kingdom and therefore the messages printed on them were widely disseminated, especially among the nobility and wealthy merchant classes. Small copper coins, although sometimes distributed to neighboring kingdoms, were much less widespread, were used among the poorer classes and, due to their poor workmanship, did not have a significant impact on the dissemination of messages.

Charles V. (1665-1700) The reign of King of Upper Navarre was characterized by a climate of stagnation and tension. No large-scale coinage was produced at the Pamplona mint, and those that were produced were small copper coins. But history was about to take a new turn, thanks to an agreement reached in the Peace Treaty of the Pyrenees, which we will discuss in a second section. There is still much to be said and recounted here!

Bibliography:

The last obverse shield in a Hispanic coin – Numismatico DIGITAL-Lanzarote-2015 – link

LEARNING BASQUE LANGUAGE – CONVERSATIONS – IÑIGO BOLINAGA – link

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